Under the reorganization going on here, I'm now covering ethics, values and religion. So, I'll no longer be updating the Health Beat blog.

Thanks for reading.

Be well.

Heather

A spoonful of honey just may do the trick for coughing kids, says a new study in this month's Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

Honey eased coughs and helped kids sleep better than cough medicine or nothing at all in a comparison test, the AP reports.

A couple of caveats, though:

Honey should never -- ever -- be given to kids under a year old because of the risk of botulism.

And, the study was funded by a grant from the National Honey Board. Take it with a grain of, well, honey ...

Christmas is still several weeks away, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of celebrating going on already. Office parties, cocktail parties, dinner parties.

Parties are great, but all of those cocktails and nibbles can add up, making you look a bit more Santa-like than you were wishing.

Here are some 4 C's tips from Weight Watchers for watching calories during party season:

-- Choose cocktails light on sugary mixers. Swap a cosmo for a mimosa, for example, or a bloody mary for a margarita.

-- Pick one cookie and savor it. Also, top cookies with chocolate chips or nuts, instead of mixing into the batter, to reduce the amount used. Toast nuts and coconuts to maximize flavor. Consider egg and sugar substitutes. Make smaller-sized cookies.

-- Ditto for candy. Pick a long-lasting candy (like a candy cane) and enjoy it (rather than popping candy after candy into your mouth.)

-- Consider couture. Ditch that baggy Christmas sweater and stretch pants. Wearing your "skinny" jeans just might keep you from an extra trip to the buffet table.

The needle on my scale is already getting jumpy ... Must mean it's just about Thanksgiving time.

If you ask me, it's a day to splurge on foods you only get once a year. (Of course, I'm no certified dietitian; I just play one on this blog.)

But there's a fine line between splurging and stuffed. And if you don't want to spend the rest of Thanksgiving day in mashed-potato stupor (hey, that may be my new band name: Mashed-Potato Stupor and the Super Tubers), here's some advice from Weight Watchers:

-- Don't starve yourself before the big meal. Have a light snack with a little protein (some yogurt or a small bagel with hummus) so you're not ready to eat everything in sight.

-- Try to fill half your plate with vegetables (veggies drowned in butter and cream do NOT count). Save the other half for meat and starches.

-- Get off the couch and go for a walk, either before or after dinner.

-- Remember Thanksgiving dinner is just that: Dinner. One meal. It doesn't give you an excuse to eat yourself silly all weekend long.

-- Send leftovers home with your guests to cut down on temptation.

You'd be in good company.

The Washington Tobacco Quit Line recently received its 100,000th call for help since starting seven years ago.

The quit line and other prevention programs are funded by tobacco settlement money. Since 2000, they've had a significant impact on smoking rates in the state, according to the Washington Department of Health.

-- Adult smoking rates have seen a 24 percent drop since 2000.

-- Adult smoking rates in Washington have dropped from 20th to fifth lowest in the nation.

-- There are now an estimated 235,000 fewer smokers in the state, saving a predicted $2.1 billion in future health costs.

And, if that's not enough, get this:

-- There are now more former smokers in Washington than current smokers.

Thinking of quitting? Call the Washington Tobacco Quit Line at (800) QUIT-NOW.

The safest way to get rid of unused medication, according to a new recommendation, is to dispose of in cat litter. Used cat litter, preferably.

Says this AP story:

So 6,300 pharmacies around the country have signed up for a pilot project with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. When patients fill prescriptions for a list of abuse-prone medicines, from Ambien to Vicodin, the pharmacist also will hand over a flyer urging them to take the cat-litter step if they don't wind up using all their pills.

Not a cat owner? Old coffee grounds work, or doggie doo, even sawdust. Just seal the meds and the, er, goop in a plastic bag before tossing in the trash.

This is all to avoid people dumping their meds down the toilet, which then can send them sailing through the water system.

Just be sure to remove the hopped-up litter from your cat's box quickly. Nobody wants to see Felix all whacked out on Viagra ...

A free mental-health screening will be held this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Sacred Heart Mother Gamelin Center in Spokane.

The screening is hosted by CHER, and will offer testing for depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety disorders.

Appointments are required. Get one by calling (509) 232-8154.

The Spokane Regional Health District, along with other regional agencies, is trying to test how well prepared it is for an emergency.

And you can help.

To simulate a crisis situation, they would like as many people as possible to turn out for flu shots this Thursday.

The flu shot exercise will help the Washington State University College of Pharmacy see how well its dispensing system works.

Shots cost $20. They will be given from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Thursday at two locations:

Spokane Falls Community College
Student Union Building
3410 W. Fort George Wright Drive

and

Spokane Community College
Lair Student Center
1810 N. Greene Street

(No word yet on whether screaming, running in circles and generally pretending to panic would be helpful as well.)

A poster series dealing with male body image displayed around WSU's Pullman campus last spring has just earned some national awards.

The three-week poster series was part of a campaign at Washington State University to raise awareness of eating disorders and body-image problems among young men, according to a WSU press release.

The posters won a bronze award from the National Health Information Resource Center, as well as an honorable mention from the 2007 Communicator Awards (an international contest for the communications field).

Awards in hand, WSU officials are currently studying the impact the public-awareness campaign had on its students.

The Inland Northwest Blood Center is getting into the Halloween spirit with a "Vein Drain" blood drive this Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in Spokane, Spokane Valley and Coeur d'Alene.

Here's where you can "starve a vampire" by donating some blood (and also go trick-or-treating for a "vein drain" T-shirt):

In Spokane at the INBC headquarters, 210 W. Cataldo Ave., from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday. On Halloween from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. there will be free grub from Pizza Rita.

At the Spokane Valley Hospital, 12606 E. Mission Ave., from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday and Wednesday only. Free Pizza Rita Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

And in Coeur d'Alene at 1341 Northwood Center Court, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Wednesday, and from 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Free pizza all three days during lunchtime, courtesy of Nick-n-Willies Pizza.

I think I hear those vampires weeping right now.

A party and benefit will be held this Saturday in honor of a Spokane man recently diagnosed with advanced stomach cancer.

Greg Papst, a former director for the Christian Youth Theater, has no health insurance.

Friends are organizing the benefit at the Bing Crosby Theatre at 7 p.m. Saturday. Some of the participants in shows Papst directed a decade ago will be attending to sing songs and tell stories.

Counseling services for veterans and their families will be available through a new program at Washington State University in Pullman.

The Services for Veterans and Families program, which opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony today, will offer individual and group counseling, marriage therapy, psychological evaluations, and post-traumatic stress disorder testing.

The clinic is contracted by the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs. Clinic services are provided by doctoral level student therapists, under close supervision.

The clinic is housed in the northeast corner of Johnson Tower on the Pullman campus.

I used to think it was unfair stereotying to say that British people have -- um, how shall we say this kindly? -- terrible teeth.

Turns out, it's not.

The AP reports that a major shortage of dentists in England has led some Brits to pull their own teeth or use super glue to re-attach their own crowns.

Don't believe it? Just ask this guy.

Yeah, bay-bee ...

A sleep-deprived universe of moms and dads is on the lookout for alternative remedies for sniffles and coughs, now that infant cold medicines have been pulled from store shelves over safety concerns.

Parenting blogs are buzzing with natural remedies like the ones here.

Do you have non-medication relief for sniffly kids as we near cold and flu season?

Dr. Kim Thorburn, Planned Parenthood's medical director in Spokane, will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming United Nations Day Celebration dinner.

Thorburn, former head of the Spokane Regional Health District, will discuss how to stem HIV, SARS and other epidemics, both locally and globally.

The event is hosted by the Spokane chapter of the United Nations Association.

The dinner takes place on Wednesday, Oct. 24, beginning with a social at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 6 p.m. and Thorburn's talk at 6:30 p.m. The event takes place at The Commons at Mukogawa Fort Wright Institute, 4000 W. Randolph Road.

Tickets are $25, $10 for students.

Call (509) 456-2382 for more information.

A new site has launched today to help parents answer that question.

The site, run by the non-profit group Autism Speaks, is a unique video glossary that contains more than 100 clips.

The clips show children engaging in autistic behaviors, alongside videos of children without autism. The videos are supposed to help parents understand behaviors such as echolalia, hand flapping, sensory defensiveness and joint attention.

And the ultimate goal is to spark earlier diagnosis so children with autism can receive treatment as soon as possible.

Visit the video glossary here.

Dr. Sam Selinger, a retired heart surgeon who founded a program in Spokane to provide health care for the poor, received the Sister Peter Claver Award this week from Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Selinger started Project Access here and recruited hundreds of health-care providers to help him.

A press release announcing Selinger's award says:

"The process took years of concentrated work, travel to meet with state legislators and of course, visits with the colleagues with whom he’d worked for more than two decades. It was a massive mission to undertake, but he approached it with vigor and determination—and he’s quick to pass on the accolades to others."

Selinger says, "As a surgeon, I helped one person at a time. Now, I am able to do so much more. And that is what makes my work so truly rewarding. Project Access is about simply taking care of your neighbor—but enlisting others to help you do that.”

The Sister Peter Claver award is given to a community member each year who exemplifies the spirit of Sacred Heart's longtime administrator.

A 69-year-old Deer Park man goes from 50 pounds overweight to training for the Ironman triathlon.

Now, Mike Brown has been selected as one of Weight Watchers Inspiring Stories of the Year.

Brown, an Internet consultant, joined Weight Watchers two years ago to support his wife, he says. At the time, he was borderline diabetic, overweight and barely exercising. He lost more than 50 pounds and has kept it off for a year. (His wife, Laurine, has shed 60 pounds and is still going, she says.)

"What's worked for me is just staying focused on a program," Mike Brown told me today.

Here are some of the other "secrets" of his success:

* Exercise is key. He runs 15-30 miles a week and bikes 50-100 miles. "I take in a couple thousand calories a day and burn off probably 1,000 calories a day," he says.

* Learn to read menus. Brown and his wife still dine out two or three times a week -- they just order wisely. They focus on veggies and lean meats. They split big steaks, or other generous meals, between the two of them. ("We stopped going to Prospectors," Mike Brown says. "Even splitting meals between us is more than we could eat."

* Find a weight-loss buddy. "They need to get a willing team member," such as a spouse or a friend, Brown says.

* Find an eating and exercise plan you like and stick with it. "You could do any diet," he says. "It's just a matter of focus and sticking with it. I don't advocate that Weight Watchers is the only way to do it."

A portion of the AIDS Memorial Quilt is coming to Washington State University soon, and event organizers are looking for community members to request specific panels for the display.

The deadline for such requests is Oct. 19. You'll find more information on panel-making and the quilt itself here.

Twenty blocks (representing 160 lives) of the quilt will be on display at WSU for a week starting Dec. 3.

The AIDS quilt project began 20 years ago. It now includes panels memorializing more than 88,000 people who have died of AIDS. The quilt weighs 54 tons.

For more information on the WSU display, call (509) 335-5759.

It sounds like the set-up for a joke:

A vacuum cleaner salesman knocks on a door. The homeowner says he can't afford a new Kirby since what he really needs is a kidney transplant.

But this one's no joke. An Idaho Falls-based door-to-door salesman did just that recently ... and ended up donating a kidney to the prospective customer.

No word yet on whether the recipient ever bought that vacuum.

I was saddened to see the obituary for Dr. Chadwick Baxter, but glad to have talked to him -- however briefly -- not long before his death.

I interviewed Dr. Baxter and his wife, Jean, about a month ago for a story about caregivers. Dr. Baxter was quite ill then, suffering from liver cancer and under hospice care.

It was then, though, that I learned of his amazing career as a pediatric surgeon in Spokane. After that story appeared in the paper, I heard from at least a dozen of Dr. Baxter's former patients (or their parents), wanting to thank him for the tremendous impact he had on their lives. Many sent along cards and e-mails, which I forwarded to the Baxters.

I hope Dr. Baxter was able to read some of them.

Here's an excerpt from one of those letters:

"Dr. Chad Baxter is an important man in our family. Our daughter, Lisa, four years old at the time, was bitten on the face by our family dog, on Labor Day weekend, 1971, exactly 36 years ago. It is an emotional event which brings tears to my eyes even as I write. My husband and I were a young couple, happily awaiting the birth of our second baby, a son, any day, when the accident happened.
We are extremely fortunate that Dr. Baxter was on duty that holiday weekend at Sacred Heart Hospital. He was truthful with us a the start, letting us know how serious Lisa's injuries were. He said that the first thing he would do is try to save her left eye. He operated for about four hours, until the middle of the night, using microscopic glasses, taking hundreds of tiny stitches on our little girl's face. Indeed, he did save her eye, and so much more.
Lisa stayed a week in the hospital, and for six weeks after, followed a liquid diet to reduce scarring. Dr. Baxter's incredible surgical skills allowed Lisa to only have one more abrasive surgical procedure.
Lisa is a beautiful, successful woman today, happily married and the mother of two great boys.
We would like to thank Dr. Baxter, as we think of him often and how lucky we were to have him as our daughter's surgeon. He is a blessing to us."

If you're into crystals, tarot cards, psychics, angels and things of that ilk, you'll want to make a bee-line for the third-annual Conscious Living Expo Oct. 13-14.

The expo, which takes place at the Spokane Convention Center, features a three-hour workshop led by James Van Praagh, known as the "ghost whisperer" for his alleged ability to communicate with the dead.

Tickets are $6 a day or $10 for the whole event. Log on to www.consciousliving.net for a full line-up of speakers and events.

Feeling blue? Find out if it's actually depression, which is treatable.

October 11 is National Depression Screening Day. And from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. that day, St. Joseph Family Center in Spokane will offer free depression screening. Participants can fill out a questionnaire, which will then be scored by a counselor who will go over the results.

Can't make it? St. Joseph also offers free online screening 24 hours a day. Click here and follow the link for "online screening."

For more inforation, call the center at (509) 483-6495.

In my story about flu shots in today's paper, I didn't give any contact information for immunizations in Idaho ... Sorry about that.

Here's the latest from the Panhandle Health District:

Flu clinics begin on Oct. 12, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Lake City Senior Center, 1916 N. Lakewood Drive in Coeur d'Alene.

Clinics will also be held on Oct. 19 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Rathdrum Senior Center, 8037 W. Montana St. in Rathdrum, and also on the same day from 1-3 p.m. at the Spirit Lake Community/Senior Center, 32564 N. Fourth Ave., in Spirit Lake.

The Panhandle Health District will announce more clinics throughout the fall. Adult vaccinations are $25, childrens' vaccinations are $5.

For more information, call (208) 415-5299.

If it's October, it must be Breast Cancer Awareness month. And there are a slew of local activities coming up. Here are a couple of them:

The Because There is Hope breast-cancer forum takes place this Monday (October 8) from noon to 8:30 p.m. at the Lair Student Building at Spokane Community College. Admission is free and there will be exhibitors with products and services for women. Call (509) 258-6851 for more information. Regional cancer specialists will also be on hand to discuss breast cancer diagnosis, treatment, survivorship and other issues.

There's a Community Breast Health Fair on October 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Intercollegiate College of Nursing, 2917 W. Fort George Wright Drive. The event is free. Call (509) 993-1916 for more information.

Have a related event? Just drop me a line and let me know.